Cell Biology

Chemists Discovered the Structure of a Key Influenza Protein Breakthrough Could Lead to Flu Treatment – SciTechDaily

This digitally-colorized transmission electron microscopic image depicts the ultrastructural details of an influenza virus particle. Credit: CDC, Frederick Murphy

A team of MIT chemists has discovered the structure of a key influenza protein, a finding that could help researchers design drugs that block the protein and prevent the virus from spreading.

The protein, known as BM2, is a proton channel that controls acidity within the virus, helping it to release its genetic material inside infected cells.

If you can block this proton channel, you have a way to inhibit influenza infection, says Mei Hong, an MIT professor of chemistry and senior author of the study. Having the atomic-resolution structure for this protein is exactly what medicinal chemists and pharmaceutical scientists need to start designing small molecules that can block it.

MIT graduate student Venkata Mandala is the lead author of the paper, which was published on February 3, 2020, in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology. Other authors include graduate students Alexander Loftis and Alexander Shcherbakov and associate professor of chemistry Bradley Pentelute.

There are three classes of influenza virus A, B, and C and each of them produces a different version of the M2 protein. M2 is an ion channel that carries protons through the viruss outer membrane, known as the lipid envelope. These protons usually flow into the virus, making the interior more acidic. This acidity helps the virus to merge its lipid envelope with the membrane of a cellular compartment called an endosome, allowing it to release its DNA into the infected cell.

Until now, most structural studies of the M2 protein have focused on the version of M2 found in influenza A, which is usually the most common form, especially earlier in the flu season. In this study, the researchers focused on the version of M2 found in influenza B viruses, which usually dominate in March and April. However, in contrast to previous patterns of seasonal flu infections, this winter, influenza B has been unusually dominant, accounting for 67 percent of all flu cases reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control since last September.

The A and B versions of M2 vary significantly in their amino acid sequences, so Hong and her colleagues set out to study what structural differences these proteins might have, and how those differences influence their functions. One key difference is that the BM2 channel can allow protons to flow in either direction, whereas the AM2 channel only allows protons to flow into the viral envelope.

To investigate the structure of BM2, the researchers embedded it into a lipid bilayer, similar to a cell membrane, and then used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to analyze the structure with atomic-scale resolution. Very few ion channels have been studied at such high resolution because of the difficulty of studying proteins embedded within membranes. However, Hong has previously developed several NMR techniques that allow her to obtain accurate structural information from membrane-embedded proteins, including their orientation and the distances between atoms of the protein.

The M2 channel is made of four helices that run parallel to each other through the membrane, and Hong found that the alignment of these helices changes slightly depending on the pH of the environment outside the viral envelope. When the pH is high, the helices are tilted by about 14 degrees, and the channel is closed. When the pH goes down, the helices increase their tilt to about 20 degrees, opening up like a pair of scissors. This scissoring motion creates more space between the helices and allows more water to get into the channel.

Previous studies have found that as water flows into the M2 channel, the amino acid histidine grabs protons from the water in the top half of the channel and passes them to water molecules in the lower half of the channel, which then deliver the excess protons into the virion.

Unlike the AM2 channel, the BM2 channel has an extra histidine at the virion-facing end of the channel, which the MIT team believes to explain why protons can flow in either direction through the channel. More study is needed to determine what kind of advantage this may provide for influenza B viruses, the researchers say.

Now that chemists know the structure of both the open and closed states of the BM2 channel at atomic resolution, they can try to come up with ways to block it. There is precedent for this type of drug development: Amantadine and rimantadine, both used to treat influenza A, work by wedging themselves into the AM2 channel pore and cutting off the flow of protons. However, these drugs do not affect the BM2 channel.

Hongs research group is now investigating another one of BM2s functions, which is generating curvature in lipid membranes in order to allow progeny viruses to be released from cells. Preliminary studies suggest that a portion of the protein that sticks out from the membrane forms a structure called a beta sheet that plays a role in inducing the membrane to curve inward.

Reference: Atomic structures of closed and open influenza B M2 proton channel reveal the conduction mechanism by Venkata S. Mandala, Alexander R. Loftis, Alexander A. Shcherbakov, Bradley L. Pentelute and Mei Hong, 3 February 2020, Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.DOI: 10.1038/s41594-019-0371-2

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Originally posted here:
Chemists Discovered the Structure of a Key Influenza Protein Breakthrough Could Lead to Flu Treatment - SciTechDaily

Cell Biology

If cancer were easy, every cell would do it – Newswise

MEDIA CONTACT

Available for logged-in reporters only

Newswise A new Scientific Reports paper puts an evolutionary twist on a classic question. Instead of asking why we get cancer, Leonardo Oa of Osnabrck University and Michael Lachmann of the Santa Fe Institute use signaling theory to explore how our bodies have evolved to keep us from getting more cancer.

It isnt obvious why, when any cancer arises, it doesnt very quickly learn to take advantage of the bodys own signaling mechanisms for quick growth. After all, unlike an infection, cancers can easily use the bodys own chemical language. Any signal that the body uses, an infection has to evolve to make, says Lachmann. If a thief wants to unlock your house, they have to figure out how to pick the lock on the door. But cancer cells have the keys to your house. How do you protect against that? How do you protect against an intruder who knows everything you know, and has all the tools and keys you have? Their answer: You make the keys very costly to use.

Oa and Lachmanns evolutionary model reveals two factors in our cellular architecture that thwart cancer: the expense of manufacturing growth factors (keys) and the range of benefits delivered to cells nearby. Individual cancer cells are kept in check when theres a high energetic cost for creating growth factors that signal cell growth. To understand the evolutionary dynamics in the model, the authors emphasize the importance of thinking about the competition between a mutant cancerous cell and surrounding cells. When a mutant cell arises and puts out a signal for growth, that signal also provides resources to adjacent, non-mutated cells. Thus, when the benefits are distributed to a radius around the signaling cell, the mutant cells have a hard time out-competing their neighbors and cant get established. The cancer loses the ability to give the signal.

The work represents a novel application of evolutionary biology toward a big-picture understanding of cancer. Oa and Lachmann draw from the late biologist Amotz Zahavis handicap principle, which explains how evolutionary systems are stabilized against cheaters when dishonest signals are costlier to produce than the benefit they provide. The male peacocks elaborate tail is the classic example of a costly signal an unhealthy bird would not have the energetic resources to grow an elaborate tail, and thus could not fake a signal of their evolutionary fitness. By the handicap principle, a cancer cell would be analogous to the unhealthy peacock that cant afford to signal for attention.

So how do some cancer cells overcome these evolutionary constraints? The authors point out that their model only addresses the scenario of an individual cancer trying to invade a healthy population. Once cancer has overcome the odds of extinction and reached a certain critical size, other dynamics prevail.

Many mechanisms seem to have evolved to prevent cancer from immune system control, cell death, limits on cell proliferation, to tissue architecture, the authors write. Our model only studies the reduced chance for invasion.

Cancer is incredibly complex, Lachmann says, and our model is relatively simple. Still, we believe its an important step toward understanding cancer and cancer prevention in evolutionary terms.

See the rest here:
If cancer were easy, every cell would do it - Newswise

Cell Biology

Study uncovers more pieces of the autism puzzle – News-Medical.net

A major international study from the Autism Sequencing Consortium with participation of researchers from the Danish iPSYCH psychiatry project, has recently mapped 102 new autism genes. The new findings provide a new understanding of the biology behind autism, which could in the future be utilised to provide an earlier and more precise diagnosis and better treatment options.

Ever since the first autism diagnosis was made in 1938, researchers have been trying to clarify where the disorder originates. There have been many suggestions - along with many disagreements. But one thing has been clear for a while: Genetics play a major role with a heritability of up to eighty per cent.

The largest study so far of rare genetic variants has now identified 102 new so-called risk genes for autism. The results have just been published in the international journal Cell.

"Broadly speaking, there are two types of genetic variants which play a role in autism. There are uncommon genetic variants that few people have, although these may have a big effect, and then there are frequent variants which we all carry some of, and which each contribute in a very small way to the risk," says Associate Professor Jakob Grove from Aarhus University, who is one of the driving forces behind the Danish contribution and a member of the iPSYCH research project.

In the study, the researchers mapped the DNA building blocks in the genes of 35,584 individuals, of whom 11,986 had autism. The researchers then determined how many times each gene is affected by variants with "protein disrupting consequences", as the researcher puts it. "If a gene is more often hit by these mutations among people with autism than among people without it, this indicates that the gene is involved in the processes that lead to autism, and is thus designated as a risk gene," explains Jakob Grove. The majority of the identified gene-destroying mutations are new mutations that are only found in the person with autism and not in their parents.

The genetic findings provide an entirely new insight into the biological processes that are involved in the development of autism. Some of the genes identified alter early development broadly, while others appear to be more specific to autism. Most of the genes help determine how neurones communicate with each other or they regulate the expression of other genes.

This new knowledge could provide a better basis for understanding autism. For example, it may help us to make a diagnosis earlier, which we already know makes life easier for people with autism and their relatives. It's also conceivable it could contribute to the development of personalized medicine for those who may want this."

Jakob Grove, Associate Professor, Aarhus University

In other words, the results of the study may turn out to be crucial for the treatment of psychiatric disorders in the future.

However, he also emphasizes that the new findings can only explain a few cases of autism as these genetic variants are only present in few individuals. "For this reason, iPSYCH continues to study both rare and more frequent genetic variants," he says.

The research has been carried out in collaboration with the Autism Sequencing Consortium (ASC) and the project is anchored at Mount Sinai in New York. In addition to researchers from Aarhus University, the Broad Institute in Boston, UCSF in San Francisco and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh have also participated along with researchers from altogether more than 50 sites.

Source:

Journal reference:

Satterstrom, F.K., et al. (2020) Large-Scale Exome Sequencing Study Implicates Both Developmental and Functional Changes in the Neurobiology of Autism. Cell. doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.12.036.

See the original post:
Study uncovers more pieces of the autism puzzle - News-Medical.net

Cell Biology

Unveiling the structure of the influenza virus – News-Medical.net

The flu season is coming, and the frigid temperatures make it worse. The influenza B virus is the causative agent of the common flu, but over the past years, it has become more potent in causing disease. Now, a team of MIT scientists has found and unveiled the structure of the virus, particularly the key influenza protein, in the hopes to develop new drugs to combat influenza.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the overall hospitalizations related to influenza this season increased to 29.7 percent per 100,000, which is similar to what happened over the past seasons. Further, a total of 68 children had died due to influenza this season, with 14 deaths occurring during the 2019-2020 season. Overall, pneumonia and influenza mortality have been low while CDC estimates that for this season, there had been 19 million flu illnesses, 180,000 hospitalizations, and 10,000 deaths from flu.

This digitally-colorized transmission electron microscopic image depicts the ultrastructural details of an influenza virus particle. Image: CDC, Frederick Murphy

Known as BM2, the protein is a proton channel that regulates the acidity in the virus to aid in releasing its genetic material in infected cells.

The researchers believe that blocking the proton channel can help combat infection and block the effects of the virus. Knowing the structure of the protein, particularly its atomic-resolution structure, can help doctors, medicinal chemists, and pharmaceutical scientists to develop compounds and drugs to block its function.

Published in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the study sheds light on the structure of the influenza B protein to help in the development of compounds to block its effect on the infected cell.

The three types of influenza virus influenza A, B, and C, produce a different kind of the M2 protein, which is an ion channel carrying protons through the outer membrane of the virus, known as the lipid envelope. The proteins go inside the virus and will create the internal environment more acidic. If the interior of the virus becomes acidic, it helps the virus release its DNA into the infected cell.

The M2 proteins are very interesting focuses for scientists, in the hopes of finding a cure for flu or treatment modalities to prevent further deaths. There had been many studies about the structure of the M2 protein, but most focused on the type A of the virus.

In the study, however, the team focused on the influenza B M2 protein, which usually dominates the March to April flu season, which accounts for about 67 percent of all flu cases reported by the CDC since September 2019.

The researchers aimed to study what structural differences in the proteins of A and B influenza viruses have. They found that one key difference between the two is that the BM2 channel allows the protons to flow in either direction, while the AM2 only allows the protons to flow into the envelope of the virus.

To land to their findings, the researchers studied BM2s structure by embedding it into a lipid bilayer, which is akin to a cell membrane. They used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to investigate the structure with atomic-scale resolution.

They discovered that the M2 channel is made of four helices, wherein the alignment chances depending on how acidic or alkaline the environment outside the viral envelope is. If the pH is high, the helices begin to tilt by approximately 14 degrees, and if it decreases, the tilt increases to about 20 degrees. With the motion of the helices, mimicking a pair of scissors, it allows water to enter the channel.

They found that the BM2, unlike the AM2, has an extra histidine at the virion-facing end of the channel. The scientists believe that this explains why the protons can flow in both directions through the channel.

These results indicate that asymmetric proton conduction requires a backbone hinge motion, whereas bidirectional conduction is achieved by a symmetric scissor motion. The proton-selective histidine and gating tryptophan in the open BM2 reorient on the microsecond timescale, similar to AM2, indicating that side-chain dynamics are the essential driver of proton shuttling, the researchers concluded.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study has revealed the structure of BM2 in its open and closed state, paving the way for finding a compound to finally block it.

Source:

Journal reference:

Mandala, V.S., Loftis, A.R., Shcherbakov, A.A. et al. Atomic structures of closed and open influenza B M2 proton channel reveal the conduction mechanism. Nat Struct Mol Biol (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-019-0371-2

The rest is here:
Unveiling the structure of the influenza virus - News-Medical.net

Human Behavior

What science teaches us about free will – Science 101

In ancient times, debates around free will centered on the concept of destiny. Stories like Oedipus Rex asked whether humans could escape the fate the gods had bestowed upon them. But as science has taught us more about our brains, bodies, and environment, thinkers have shifted from theological questions to scientific ones like: If our actions are determined by a combination of genes and upbringing, does that leave any room for free will? Does someone have free will if their brain functioning is compromised? And does quantum physics, with its nondeterministic forms of causation, provide an explanation for how conscious choice could occur? Neuroscientists, physicists, and even legal experts are now in on the debate, inspiring the rest of us to question and refine our own definitions of free will.

A conversation about free will broke out within the field of neuroscience after neurologist Benjamin Libet conducted a famous experiment addressing the issue in the 1980s. The studys participants were instructed to press a button with their fingers whenever they wanted and to note exactly what time they saw on a stopwatch in front of them when they made the decision to press it. Libet found that the neural activity initiating this action, as indicated by brain scanners, started about half a second before people consciously made the choice.

This finding brought up the question of whether conscious thought plays a role in our behavior, or whether were essentially biological automatons acting according to predetermined patterns of neural firing. Perhaps we think were choosing an action before we perform it, but that choice is simply an illusion that emerges once that actions already being performed.

The idea that peoples behavior is determined by their brain activity, which is in turn determined by other physical processes outside our control, is known as determinism. Determinists argue that if you could go all the way back to the Big Bang with an extremely advanced computer that could track the states of every particle and follow the effects of all these states, you could predict everything thats happening today, including everything that happens in our minds.

One counterargument to this theory is that, if something could actually determine every position of every particle at the time of the Big Bang, whatever is capable of doing that would be so powerful, it may be able to interfere with that system, says mathematician Jonathan Farley. And if that powerful entity were human consciousness, that might mean we do have free will.

The merits of determinism have also been called into question by some interpretations of quantum physics, which has shown that, down at the level of subatomic particles, things look more like waves of possibilities than definite events. For example, the famous double-slit experiment showed that electrons can exist in multiple places at once. Its results suggested that human observation is what collapses quantum particles into one state: The interference pattern of electrons on a wall after they were fired through a slit changed based on whether they were measured. This seems to suggest that there may be something special about the human brain that allows it to exert control over the physical universe, says Farley.

But because its unclear whether the outcomes of quantum events are the products of conscious choice or simply random, quantum physics doesnt necessarily prove that free will exists. In fact, many scientists concerned with free will actually consider questions about determinism to be irrelevant.

Those who believe free will and determinism can coexist are known as compatibilists, and studies show that most people actually have a compatibilist view of free will. That is, people appear to be less concerned with the behavior of small particles and more concerned with the constraints placed on people as a whole, such as whether someone else has forced them to do anything or whether some physical or psychological limitation is affecting their behavior.

This is reflected in the legal system, which tends to consider someones free will constrained only if they have a relevant brain injury, disease, or disability, says James Giordano, professor of neurology and biochemistry and chief of neuroethics studies at Georgetown University Medical Center. Legal debates tend not to touch on physics because that would be a moot point: Everyones actions stem from an amalgamation of physical particles, so if physical causation precluded moral responsibility, it would for everyone.

The way Giordano puts it is that free will is less important than free wont. It matters less, for example, whether the brain activity leading someone to push a button starts before they make the decision, and more whether they can decide against pushing that button if there is a disadvantage to doing so. In a legal context, this would involve someones ability to resist the temptation of committing a crime. This is likely related to the connectivity between brain areas involved in things like memory, emotion, and rational thought, says Giordano.

Many physical traits have actually been shown to correlate with someones likelihood of committing a crime, such as their genes, deficits in brain areas that inhibit impulsive behavior, IQ, health conditions, and even heart rate (the theory being that people with low resting heart rates are more prone to risk-taking because its harder for them to feel stimulated), says criminologist Margit Averdijk.

Some of these factors actually are taken into consideration in court. Typically, evidence that someones capacity to make ethical decisions is compromised wont absolve them of guilt, but it may make them more likely to be put in a psychiatric institution rather than prison, says Giordano. A 2016 analysis found that brain scans had been used as mitigating evidence in 5% of appellate murder cases and 25% of death penalty trials.

Social scientists have also posed questions about free will, often in the broader context of asking how much society is influencing human behavior. For example, some argue that someones culture and even the physical environment they grow up in will have a major effect on their lives.

A slightly different way to approach the question of how much free will society affords people is to ask how much external factors constrain our decisions. In that vein, its actually rather difficult to sway peoples choices, says MD-technologist and behavioral economics consultant Drea Burbank. Changes to things like prices and stores that attempt to get people to buy fewer cigarettes, for example, only account for around 10%-20% of variance in human behavior.

So, in short, theres no proven answer to the question of whether free will in any metaphysical sense exists. Clearer working definitions of free will have been developed for more pragmatic purposes like determining legal sentences and getting people to make healthier decisions. Under these definitions, people do appear to have free will, but the extent of the freedom varies from person to person.

While more abstract definitions of free will are interesting to ponder, its difficult to make them the lens through which we make moral judgments or attempt to understand human behavior. Still, questions about quantum states and physical determinism, like those about ethereal souls and deities, are fascinating enough that scientists, philosophers, and artists alike will unlikely stop thinking about them any time soon.

What about the physical components of human consciousness?

It might sound mystical, but it may actually assist scientists in helping those with PTSD.

See the rest here:
What science teaches us about free will - Science 101

Human Behavior

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Make revival and reform happen today – Muskogee Daily Phoenix

Catherine White

Muskogee

Recently a letter to the editor was written by a citizen who is also a clergyman. It appeared in the local newspaper expressing his appreciation for the man who is presently our President. The letter was gracious and bold in stating such appreciation for Mr. Trump and his leadership. There are those who would vehemently disagree with the letter since over the past 3 years Mr. Trump has been vilified, ridiculed and now members of the left and Democrats' leadership have voted to impeach him. Even so, his private faith acts courageously in the face of death threats and incredible opposition.

Mr. Trump however imperfect as a human and leader is still being used by God to do some remarkable actions consistent with the founding purposes of this nation. He is pro-life, pro-Israel, patriotic and unapologetically brings his faith into the public square.

America is in a freefall today with the church (Christian) exhibiting apostacy, diluted and deceptive preaching that congregants blindly follow and the whole nation wallows in self-indulgent decadence. Abolitionist activist William Wilberforce in England determined (1780-1801) to change the heart of his nation to end slavery. Slavery exists today in a different form: abortion, transgenderism, same-sex marriages," exterminating babies who survived abortion procedures, corruption in the halls of government at all levels local, state, nationally. There is public scorn for believers who stand up in the public square and are rewarded with the label of hate-mongers for seeking to restore biblical standards for human life.

Without a God-initiated revival followed by reform of human behavior, our children and grandchildren will never know the freedom and inalienable rights afforded those who reverence God Almighty. Let us pray for God to raise up evangelists and culture-changing men and women who dedicate their lives at whatever cost to Christ and to the kind of sacrificial faith, endurance and boldness needed to repent and turn our hearts back to the Lord. "If MY People who are called by My name...." That is the audience that needs to take the first step to make revival and reform happen today.

Read the original post:
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Make revival and reform happen today - Muskogee Daily Phoenix

Human Behavior

New EMA Research Examines the Detection and Prevention of Automated Bot Attacks – Yahoo Finance

EMA surveyed 209 respondents to learn how defenders are responding to this increasingly virulent attack vector

BOULDER, Colo., Feb. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), a leading IT and data management research and consulting firm, released a new research report titled "The Imitation Game: Detecting and Thwarting Automated Bot Attacks" based on criteria defined by Paula Musich, research director of security and risk management at EMA.

Over 20% of all website requests are made by bad bots conducting a range of nefarious activities, including the more ubiquitous application distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, as well as price scraping, web fraud, account hijacking, and more. In late 2019, EMA surveyed 209 respondents representing organizations primarily serving North America to learn how defenders are responding to this increasingly virulent attack vector. The research sought respondents primarily in IT and IT security roles representing organizations with at least 500 employees.

52% of respondents indicated that their organization's public-facing applications had experienced DDoS attacks in the last year, followed by 38% of respondents reporting fake account creation and vulnerability scanning/reconnaissance attacks over that same time period. Depending on the type and size of the organization, the frequency of these attacks ranged anywhere from less than one per day to over 500 times per day.

Attackers continue to up their game by increasing the level of sophistication in their campaigns. The use of simple Python or Perl scripts to mimic the behavior of valid website visitors has given way to the use of Javascript and cookies to appear legitimate. More sophisticated bots even have their own moniker: advanced persistent bots (APBs). These APBs, which make up the lion's share of all bad bots, can mimic human behavior, seek to bypass CAPTCHAs, hide behind anonymous peer-to-peer proxies, and dynamically rotate IP addresses. Increasingly, attackers try to determine how their bots are initially detected and then reconfigure and relaunch the attack in an effort to evade those detections.

Defenders are responding by turning to a range of different bot detection and mitigation providers, including dedicated bot mitigation vendors, web application firewall providers, content delivery networking services, and others. Such providers are raising the stakes by adding a wider range of telemetry to their solutions and adding new detections that employ machine learning techniques, behavioral analysis, and more on top of existing signatures, challenges, and IP reputation detections.

"Automated bot attacks can cost victim organizations from thousands to millions of dollars annually in lost business, product theft, increased infrastructure costs, and more," says Musich. In the cat and mouse game between attackers and defenders, though, defenders appear to be gaining the upper hand through the use of more sophisticated detection and prevention tools."

As organizations build out and manage their defenses against automated bot attacks, they are seeing success in detecting and mitigating the most frequently used attack techniques. This is especially true for application-level DDoS attacks, which the largest percentage of respondents indicated were detected and mitigated in less than one day.

Ultimately, bot defense solutions are enabling users of the technology to limit the amount of damage automated bot attack campaigns are exacting. Respondents in the survey indicated that their use of bot defense technology enabled savings in both fraud resolution and web infrastructure costs.

A detailed analysis of the research findings is available in the report, "The Imitation Game: Detecting and Thwarting Automated Bot Attacks."

Highlights from the report will be revealed during the free February 11 webinar, "The Imitation Game: Detecting and Thwarting Automated Bot Attacks."

About EMA Founded in 1996, EMA is a leading industry analyst firm that provides deep insight across the full spectrum of IT and data management technologies. EMA analysts leverage a unique combination of practical experience, insight into industry best practices, and in-depth knowledge of current and planned vendor solutions to help their clients achieve their goals. Learn more about EMA research, analysis, and consulting services for enterprise line of business users, IT professionals, and IT vendors at http://www.enterprisemanagement.com.

SOURCE EMA

Link:
New EMA Research Examines the Detection and Prevention of Automated Bot Attacks - Yahoo Finance

Human Behavior

Researchers receive NSF Career Awards – WSU News

Three Washington State University researchers have received faculty Early Career awards from the National Science Foundation.

Venera Arnaoudova, Anamika Dubey, and Subhanshu Gupta, faculty members in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), each received the five-year awards. The grants, which are about $500,000 each, are intended to provide significant research support to young faculty beginning their careers who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education.

These awards are a testament to WSUs growing research enterprise in computer science, computer engineering and power engineering and to the high quality of research from our rising faculty members in these fields, said Mary Rezac, dean of the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture. They address societal challenges and promise to have significant impact, especially in the state of Washington, which leads the country in high-technology growth.

Demand for graduates in computer science and engineering has skyrocketed in the past decade. Arnaoudova, Dubey, and Gupta were all hired as part of a state-funded faculty expansion to help meet that growing need. Since 2015, research expenditures in WSUs School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science have nearly doubled, as have the number of graduates from its program.

The CAREER awardees include:

Power system outages due to natural disasters cost a staggering $18-33 billion per year and cause significant safety and security concerns, especially during extended outages and extreme weather events. The need for resilience is particularly critical for the aging mid- and low-voltage power distribution systems, responsible for approximately 90 percent of outages.

Leveraging recent smart grid advances, Dubeys project will develop a plan to manage disruptions and improve the resilience of power distribution systems. The proposed innovations add flexibility for bottom-up restoration using distributed energy resources (DERs) and enhanced distribution automation capabilities, allowing for faster recovery of critical services during natural disasters. The project aims to improve public safety and reduce the cost of natural disasters to the economy, encourage DER integration, and help reduce the US carbon footprint. The project will also include a well-integrated education plan to address the critical need for a skilled, interdisciplinary, and inclusive workforce for a future power distribution grid.

Dubey has been with WSU since 2016. She holds a Ph.D. and MSE from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.

Extremely large antenna arrays made of hundreds of antenna elements promise to provide unprecedented spatial resolutions for critical infrastructure technology as well as for exciting futuristic ideas like holographic surfaces for multi-user wireless communications, six-dimensional positioning for autonomous vehicles, high-speed communication for deep-space exploration, and automobile radars for detecting multiple objects. However, the signal processing for these large-scale arrays require large amounts of energy and can be inaccurate, and because of the highly complex signal processing required, conventional transceivers dont work well. Guptas project will be working to enable the next generation of multi-antenna array systems that will be more precise, energy efficient and faster, using novel integrated circuits and systems design techniques to develop a delay-compensating spatial signal processor to handle very large bandwidth for large antenna arrays.

The research could have broad impacts on wireless communications, space communications, and radar for autonomous vehicles.

With WSU since 2015, Gupta holds a Ph.D. and M.S. from the University of Washington, and a B.E, National Institute of Technology, Trichy, India.

Software developers spend most of their time reading and understanding software. While academic and industry experts have published information on best practices in the field, the information is largely based on the experts own opinion and experience rather than scientific evidence.

Arnaoudovas research will study how human behavior impacts the cost and quality of software development. This project specifically targets practices related to software design, code, and review. The researchers will evaluate the impact of existing practices on developers, use objective measures to identify new software development practices, and develop better guidelines for software development and maintenance.

At the same time, they will be working to incorporate the findings of this project into the curriculum to create a better trained workforce in software development.

With WSU since 2015, Arnaoudova holds a Ph.D. from Canadas Ecole Polytechnique, a masters degree from Concordia University, and a bachelors degree from Frances PolytechLille.

Read the original here:
Researchers receive NSF Career Awards - WSU News

Human Behavior

Traffic, okada and economics – BusinessAMLive

Coming to work in Ikeja today, the first day of work following the ban on okada, came in bold relief the full picture of the impact of the okada ban. People were seen trekking in large numbers from Agegge towards Ikeja, the Lagos State capital. Over the weekend, yours truly had read that bus drivers had cashed in on the absence of okada to inflate transport fares. This will require more investigation.

But the question that comes to mind is: can we legislate and regulate economic behavior? Would it not look like trying to make hot air go down when the behavior of hot air is to rise up? Economics, we are told, is a social science which studies human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses. So Economics studies, it does not Impose or force human behavior.

In the Economic Environment of Business class, my teacher once asked us if a monopolist could charge whatever price he / she wanted. That was food for thought. First the mass trekking points to the inadequacy of buses for mass transit. So there is a market that okada riders have seen. Nature abhors a vacuum and in a free market economy, this is an opportunity for business. So the challenge will be to meet up with the current demand for an affordable means ofmass transit. Perhaps a culture of ride sharing may evolve. This could reduce traffic congestion also if keeping okada out of that market will be sustained.

The basic economic forces are those of demand and supply. In a market where the demand exceeds supply, price goes up. This is an expected human behavior in a free market economy. It remains to be seen whether a price control or a legislation on price will cause the interaction between demand and supply to change. It might be like forcing hot air to go down with a funnel.

Of course unless you condense the gas into some liquid , it will at the end of the funnel rise up again. So unless there is some statistics taken during this period and an estimate made across routes to enable planned intervention, prices are likely to go up in the face of surging demand. May be the trains will help change the equation. But the routes served by trains are limited and may not have the cooling effect needed to keep transport fares down.

Now back to my teachers question: can a monopolist ( now in this case a bus driver who has no competition from Okada riders) charge whatever he/ she feels like? This situation may attract some opportunistictouch- and go business men who will come and contest the market with the monopolist. The problem with touch- and go business men is that they are not registered businesses, incur little or no costs to enter the market, but will come contest the super normal profit of the monopolist. These types of businesses create safety and security risks. And where choices are limited and prices are high, this new breed of touch- and go businesses will, like in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart, behave like the bird that says it has learnt to fly without perching since men have learnt to shoot without missing.

If the people perceive the new regulation as punitive and unfair, then it will be Us versus them the people and the new reincarnated business model versus the law enforcement agents. This early stage of okada ban provides the opportuinity to resolve transportation challenges before other market players fill the vacuum and meet the need that is showing very plainly.

Read more here:
Traffic, okada and economics - BusinessAMLive

Human Behavior

How to Tap Into the Lunar Cycle to Enhance Your Sex Life – Yahoo Lifestyle

How to Tap Into the Lunar Cycle to Enhance Your Sex Life Many sexperts and astrologers

believe that the moon may

influence human behavior. Research hints that the lunar cycle may influence hormonal changes in women, and that's why the lunar and menstrual phases can sync up with each other. If the moon's phases are linked to your

menstrual cycle, they can be linked to

changes in your sexual desires and libido. Explore your curiosities

and respect your personal

boundaries during the New Moon. The Waxing Moon is the best time

to practice communication and self-

pleasure to nourish the mind and body. Enjoy a heightened capacity for

seduction during the full moon. Embrace your orgasms and listen to

your body during the waning moon.

Read the original here:
How to Tap Into the Lunar Cycle to Enhance Your Sex Life - Yahoo Lifestyle